Addressing Community Lead Concerns

A unifying thread among communities with land reuse sites is a concern about lead exposures. In these communities, lead is primarily associated with older housing stock, but former industrial uses such as smelting operations, battery manufacture, or past agricultural applications with lead-arsenate pesticides can cause significant lead exposures. The recent recommendation by CDC to lower the blood lead level at which primary prevention occurs from 10 ug/dL to 5 ug/dL may drive efforts to proactively address lead concerns in brownfields/land reuse communities. Presenters in this session will describe health education activities in Blue Island (IL), Detroit (MI), and Upper Exploreland (IA) to reduce exposures to lead in paint or soil in brownfields communities.

Audience members from many environmental health disciplines, including state and local health agencies, and environmental consultants will find this session to be informative and educational for their own program needs.